Kalimantan’s coal railway project linking Puruk Cahu and Lupak Dalam in Central Kalimantan is set to begin in the first quarter of 2013 to cope with the shortage of road transportation facilities in the province.

“By looking at the progress today, we are optimistic the winner of the tender will be announced early next year and that the project will begin in the first quarter [of 2013],” Bastary said on the sidelines of Trans Kalimantan Railway Project Review in Jakarta on Tuesday.

The 300-kilometer tracks will connect three coal centers in the province: Puruk Cahu of Murung Raya rege...